Cushion comfort constraint : choreographing infrastructures of mobility

Abstract

Surface in the city is scarce. As a typical day in the city progresses, the inhabitants' surface demands transform. A children's playground goes unused at night, the valuable surface should be re-adapted for an alternative use, say a parking space for the neighborhoods drivers. This project seeks to transform the urban surface of the city, by deploying variable mobile autonomous infrastructures. The furnitures are programmed to be responsive to the temporal demands of the current city. They change position and rearrange themselves for the three major episodes of daily life, Morning and Afternoon, Commute, and Evening. Physically the furnitures transform the city surface. Mobility in neighborhoods is dictated by their placement and type. Consequently the furniture's placement is dependent on a neighborhood's profile. The mobile infrastructures are capable of providing a safety buffer from traffic, creating new major transportation routes, and creating a new temporary program to a space. For example, a schoolyard in the Morning and Afternoon, would be protected from traffic by a buffer of infrastructures on the exterior perimeter. Meanwhile mobile sandboxes, sports fields, etc. occupy the interior pocket of space created. The urban surface is also marked by a social transformation. This model reinforces building boundaries as private space, and any exterior surface (backyard, driveway, alley, street, sidewalk, parking lot, etc.) as inhabiting the public realm. Thusly the city is left available as social space, which is constantly adapting to inhabitants needs.